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Nonprofit Technology

What leadership qualities support improving nonprofit's impact through effective use of technology? I was co-facilitator of the Impact Leadership Track of NTEN’s Leading Change Summit in San Francisco in 2014, so I reflected on those leadership qualities and here are four I have found to be vital to impact.

I have witnessed some amazing demonstrations of leadership from nonprofit colleagues when it comes to technology. For many nonprofit organizations, technology remains on the back burner, something only dealt with when it is absolutely necessary. Other organizations have taken the reigns of technology and harnessed it for the good of the organization, its mission and its impact - thanks to effective leaders.

Of the many leadership traits that support impact, four that stand out to me when thnking about technology are: Courage, Vision, Conviction and being a bit of a Rebel. Here's how I've seen those work.

Courage

When technology has not traditionally been a strength of an organization (and/or its leader), it takes courage to make technology a priority and invest in technology initiatives. Tech projects sometimes have a hard-to-define Return on Investment (ROI), and there is a dearth of funding for thses projects. Knowing the positive impact that well-placed, thoughtful use of technology can have, I am greatly encouraged by the courageous leaders I see that embark on technology projects despite the obstacles. Courageous leaders move ahead, knowing that no project is perfect but that if you are not keeping up you are falling dangerously behind.

Vision

Having the vision of what the organization can be and can achieve with smart applications of technology is vital to sucess. Along with a vision of how staff and stakeholders can step up to support even complex technical projects, this is a key leadership trait. I have seen folks for whom technology was a very foreign subject embrace it whole-heartedly because of the vision they have of a mission fulfilled. One of my heroes is a nonprofit staff member who learned HTML in her 70’s in order to manage the organization's website. It wasn’t because she particularly wanted to learn it, but because of her vision of how the impact of their social justice work would be supported by an effective online presence.

Conviction

When you are in an organization or where technology has not been a priority, it takes conviction to advocate for engaging more deeply with technology. There are sometimes grueling politics to deal with, resistance to change and objections to overcome as well as plain old inertia. Changing the technology culture of a nonprofit from a reactive, non-engaged one to an engaged, proactive one is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes conviction to keep beating the “focus on technology” drum over the long term.

Rebeliousness

In order to buck systems that are not friendly to the embrace of technology, you need to be a bit of a rebel. An ability to push back against conventional wisdom, against the “we’ve always done it this way” attitude, against prejudices and fears against technology in a sustained way is required. Yes, technology projects can be expensive and confusing, but they can provide a positive ROI and improve efficiencies in the organizations work systems - which in turn free up resources for more mission-focused work. That is a big payoff which "quick-fix" appraches don't produce. The smart rebel leaders I have seen know when to push back and be disruptive and when to step back and let the changes sink in. So include a dash of diploacy with your rebeliousness.

Impact

When it comes to Impact Leadership - demonstrating leadership in the service of generating greater impact for your organization - this combination of being a bit rebellious, having the courage of your convictions and having a thoughtful vision which you are working towards are an unbeatable combination.

The 2014 Nonprofit Technology Conference was my tenth year of attendance. I won't be attending in 2015, but since Philadelphia in 2004 I did not miss a year and was honored to present at least one session every year.

The cardinal rules for the conference are 1. Have Fun, 2. Connect with folks who are also passionate about nonprofit technology, and 3. Learn new things (usually a lot of things!).

I hope my tips may help others make the most of future conferences.

1. Get Organized

Review all of the activities online before you arrive. Don’t waste precious time on site with so many interesting people to talk to looking through lists of sessions. Try to schedule as much as you can beforehand using the handy schedule tool then put them into your calendar. You might change or revise based on new information onsite, but having a basic plan provides a solid foundation. You’ll hit the ground ready to connect.

2. Pace Yourself

Conferences are exhausting. Avoid burnout and brain death by pacing yourself. Take twenty minutes every morning and afternoon to do nothing - no email, no voicemail, no networking, no consuming anything work related. Go for a walk, sit quietly in your room or find a coffee shop with a quiet corner and just relax.

3. Take a Tech Break

You are at the conference to connect with other people IRL (In Real Life). You can stare at your phone anytime, this is the time to put your phone and laptop away, walk up to the nearest person and introduce yourself. Having a phone or laptop in your face puts up a barrier, so invite conversation by disconnecting from your tech when you can and opening up to conversation.

4. Have a Tagline

You can easily meet up to 100 people or more over the course of the conference. You will be more memorable if you can state clearly and concisely where you focus - or want to focus. “I help nonprofits make good decisions about fundraising software and related functions” is much better than “I do a lot of different things for a lot of different organizations”. While your task may vary widely, it is easier for others to grasp if you can say it simply and concisely. If you are looking to adjust your focus, the conference a great place to practice stating that intention and helping it become your reality, i.e., “I am moving into doing more coaching of executive directors” or “I'm looking for a partner to write a book on integrating technology in strategic plans”. Introduce yourself with a personal tagline.

5. Have a Goal

Your goal may be to finally meet that person whose blog you never miss, or to finally understand the differences between Tumblr and a wiki. Give some thought to whatever goal or goals would be most useful to you in the coming year. Have a website revision coming up? Make it a goal to talk to three people in similar size organizations who have been through it recently. Interested in moving to the cloud and want to know the most carbon neutral options? Ask everyone you meet if they know. Having some set questions also helps you move from just making small talk to having a more meaningful conversation.

6. Skip One Session

While there is no shortage of outstanding education sessions, some of the best conversations happen in the hallway. You run into that person who asked a smart question in the last session, or you catch that person you’ve followed forever on social media. Pick out a slot where there is a session you are least excited about and skip it. Walk around the halls, talk to vendors or conference staff, pull up some floor next to a fellow attendee and just talk. You can only absorb so much information, so your brain’s learning center will thank you.

7. Hit the Town

Keep your eyes out on the listservs, online and onsite for the many social events that happen around the conference. From informal get-togethers to the progressive party to tech specific gatherings, there are a lot of opportunities to connect with others in a casual, relaxed environment. Same with dinners - you can go out to eat with your co-workers anytime - connect with people you don’t know. If you’ve never been to D.C. and want to see some sights, take time to reflect on what you’ve been learning while you enjoy the town.

8. Be Comfortable

While we all want to look professional, try to find your most comfortable professional looks - especially shoes as you will do a a lot of walking. Skip the sweats and flip-flops but also avoid high heels or restrictive clothing. Hotel conference rooms are notorious for not being the right temperature for everyone and by the time someone corrects it, your session is over. Take control of this by wearing layers. A short sleeve shirt under a long sleeve shirt under a sweater or pullover gives you a lot of comfortable options.

9. Be a Responsible Learner

Don’t just let the presenters craft your learning experience, ask the questions you have. If something is unclear or they went over it to fast, stop them and ask for clarification. Ask yourself how you might use the concepts you just heard about. Imagine applying them to a situation you have or expect to encounter - what questions might arise when you go to implement this idea? By the same token, please don’t derail the session trying to get advice on a question that is not of interest to others - talk to the presenter afterwards.

10. Keep in Touch

In 2004 the conference was smaller, around 400 people if I recall correctly. That made it easier to spend time with and meet everyone I wanted to meet. Now that attendance is pushing 2000, with such a large crowd I often only see people in passing I wanted to sit down with. Consider keeping list of folks to contact after the conference to set up a call or meet in person. If you think of it, when you get a business card from someone, write a few words on the card to remind you what topic you wanted to follow up with or what resource you offered to share.

Bonus Tip: Thank Your Hosts

Putting on a conference of this size is a massive undertaking and would not be possible without the dedicated, hard working NTEN staff. Sponsors and the vendors at the Science Fair are also crucial to the conference. Pleas join me in thanking these folks for their hard work and support whenever you get the chance.

I always look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones at NTC, I hope you find some of these useful and would love to hear about any tips you have!

An updated description of the professional services I offer is available to download via the link below. The pdf lists my educational and consulting services, along with details of specific offerings in those categories.

My goal is to build the capacity of nonprofits to use technology in intelligent and effective ways. While I most often work with networks, coalitions and funders’ grantees to amplify the impact of my work, I also work with individual consultants, vendors, nonprofits and stakeholders.

At a recent seminar, a member of the audience, a nonprofit staff member, was
visibly angry that "none of the discounted databases on TechSoup come with
free technical support". While I can understand how frustrating it is to
try to learn how to use the mostly non-intuitive database programs out there, I
was struck by the thinking behind that comment. To me, it is like being angry
that a car someone donated to you did not come with free gas and repairs for
life.

Like a car, a database (and most technology for that matter) needs regular
care and maintenance. It requires resources, both human and financial, to
maintain it in good working order. Like a garden, there is planning to ensure
you use your space well and get out of it what you need, weeding to remove
undesirable elements, watering and feeding to provide needed inputs, as well as
appropriate harvesting to glean what you need. All of those tasks require spending
money on human resources to carry them out. It may also require spending
resources on tools, education or consulting. The point is, if you have no
resources to put into managing a database, you will get very little out
of it that is of use.

Many software programmers out there donate hundreds if not thousands of
hours to make free and open source software, like CiviCRM, Drupal and many others.
Those folks could be making lots of money working for commercial operations but
instead make less money and contribute to the nonprofit community in some powerful
ways. Providing technology tools that work for nonprofits is a difficult job
that comes with very little tangible reward. As I've heard many well-respected
nonprofit software experts like Robert Weiner and Allen Gunn say, free software
is free like puppies. The puppy might be free initially, but the vet visits,
shots, medicines, food, time spent training and caring for the puppy are all
not free - just as it is with software.

So, if your organization does not have the resources to both acquire and
maintain your database, the problem is not with the software providers and
their lack of free resources. It is the responsibility of every nonprofit to
raise the proper funding to properly maintain the organization, and to me the
lifeblood of an organization is its data and the systems used to manage that
data.

As I have often said, "after people, data is your most important
resource". You'll get out of it what you put into it. If you don’t' have
the resources needed to do a good job of maintaining it in good order, then the
first order of business is raising more or reallocating funds. The more
realistic organizations are about the costs of technology and software, the
more appropriate they fund those tools, the happier they will be with their
tools and the more benefit they will derive from their use.

The report includes wonderfully helpful information for performing arts organizations about engaging audiences via mobile, mobile options, vendors and - best of all - case studies of organizations using mobile.

Analytics and Texting

Two of the points I make in the report are about using analytics and being thoughtful about texting.

A review of your website metrics is helpful when building a mobile-friendly site. The analytics can tell you what pages are most popular among those accessing your website via mobile devices. This helps you make sure those pages are included in your website's mobile version.

Being thoughtful about texting is important because mobile is so personal that unwanted texts can feel like an invasion of privacy. Simple announcements, such as tickets going on sale, the release of a season's schedule or a "Save the Date" announcement for special events like fundraisers are some the more appropriate ways I've seen arts organizations using text.

Reports

The report is full of useful advice and examples that every arts organization should see. Thanks to Susan Elliott and Dina Gerdeman for incuding me. The Muscial America Special Reports page also has links to other good reports on fundraising, ticketing and other issues important to arts organizations.

I am seeing changes in the technology world that lead me to believe that QR codes and Fourquare are not useful tools for most nonprofits.

I often include a section in my nonprofit technology trainings about "up and coming" technology trends for nonprofits and one year ago, both of these tools were included, but about 6 months ago I stopped including them. From what I've been reading, I think nonprofits don't need to put effort into these tools anymore.

QR Codes

QR Codes, those little boxes that look vaguely like barcodes have been appearing on everything from restaurant menus to bus stop ads and even on Mercedes cars. As I mentioned to a colleague last year, in my experience, if a technology is too difficult for your grandmother to understand, it is not something that is going to catch
on with a wide audience. So far the data I see has supported this.

QR codes have seen very low levels of uptake from
consumers (estimates range from 3 – 12% of folks having used a qr code once,
repeat numbers are even lower). As this article from Invoke describes, the issues are that
they create a barrier instead of a simplified user experience and the effort
outweighs the benefits. Personally, I deleted the QR code scanner from my
smartphone months ago and have not missed it once. If you followed the link to the story about QR codes in Mercedes cars above, you saw they reported that even that application would be obsolete in a few years.

Recently this image on the right went around on Facebook, which sums up my feelings.

Foursquare

I used to be a regular Foursquare user, checking into places
via my smartphone, earning badges and seeing where other folks in my network
had been. Ever since Facebook added their own check-in feature, however, I have not used
Foursquare. Even when I did, I struggled to see much widespread application for
nonprofits. It made some sense for nonprofits with a physical location, like a
museum or store, but beyond that it was just another channel to maintain added
to the many other communication channels nonprofits are tasked with maintaining
today.

So while I don’t have anything against Foursquare or QR codes,
as I see their usage flat or declining I strongly urge nonprofits to put their limited resources
into tools and technologies that are proven to have an impact and staying
power. Most nonprofits would do better putting resources into
improving their content, website and email communications along with select social media
channels. Thinking about your nonprofit's strategy for mobile devices is a much more solid investment for those interested in the leading edge.

Effective technology trainings need to be much more than listening to an expert speak, especially when the class runs for 6 hours. There is so much valuable knowledge and experience among the participants, it is important to promote ways to get them out of their seats and help them interact.

Recently I presented a Masterclass in Technology Planning for the 2013 Connecting Up conference in Australia. I used several techniques to promote interaction among the participants. The classic is the "share pair" where you have two people pair up to share their thoughts. I like using an active share pair - not just turn to the person next to you and share - but get up, get your feet moving, meet someone new and share with them. I used this several times, once in the beginning when I asked folks to think about 1. What they needed to learn about for their organization and 2. What they personally wanted to learn about. I gave them a few minutes to think and jot down their answers, then had them stand up, find someone at a different table and share. It's wonderful to see the room erupt in conversation when you do this. This also helps folks think about what interests them, rather than just what their job requires, so it adds a nice personal slant to the days learning.

Later in the day, after talking about options for using the Cloud, I had folks share one new way their org might use the cloud. One of participants brought his laptop over to share with two folks how he had moved his infrastructure to the cloud, a wonderfully concrete example from a peer that really opened up their thinking.

My class was happening simultaneously with Beth Kanter's masterclass (she shares her insights in her Trainers Notebook post here). We used two ideas that Beth has been incorporating for some time in her trainings. The first was to give folks nametags and have them write a word or two about what they would be taking away from the class or and "aha" moment they had. Participant Marchelle McMath, shown here, is an example - she learned about the importance of prioritizing her many tech projects. We then had folks find someone from the other class and share what their name tag meant. We had folks do this three times with three different folks.

We then were able to use the tags for a "walking debrief", where folks again found a new partner and we left the hotel, walked along the promenade next to the beach and as they walked they again shared what their takeaways were and heard from the other person what they had learned. It was a great way to cross-pollinate the learnings and for folks to find similarities around areas such as culture change, addressing resistance, and prioritizing. I heard some great conversations happening during the walk - and we had them switch partners half way through to get yet another perspective. Of course we then took a picture of us and our combined classes to share.

So as you plan your next technology training session, think about ways to get participants moving and sharing their knowledge, their questions and even their struggles - it makes for a much richer experience than sitting and listening to a "sage on the stage".

A recent report by the UN agency International Telecoms Union "ITU World in 2013" found that by the end of 2014 there will be more mobile subscriptions than people in the world (Read the BBC report or Download the pdf). The report predicts that the current level of 6.8 billion subscriptions will pass 7 billion next year. There are 7.1 billion people on the planet.

The same report found that only 2.7 billion people - around 40% of the world population - is online. Europe had the highest penetration (75%) followed by the Americas (61%), Asia (32%) and Africa (16%). ITU secretary-general Hamadoun Toure said "Two-thirds of the world's population, some 4.5 billion people, are still offline. This means (they) are still locked out of the world's biggest market".

So what does this mean for nonprofits trying to meet constituents where they are? Most of the mobile subscribers don't have "smartphones" but many have "feature" phones that allow them to use texting and some limited applications. So while apps are not the place most organizations should start, mobile and texting strategies require attention. (Flickr photo: garyknight)

My advice to nonprofits about where to put their effort when it comes to online presence over the last few years has generally been: 40% to their website, 40% to email and 20% to social media. So if they had 2 hours a week to devote, they would on average devote around 50 minutes to website and email and 20 minutes to social media. This has always been a very rough guideline, as each nonprofit is unique - some organizations have their website in good shape and can/need to devote more time to the other areas.

As I have watched the number of nonprofit supporters who access websites, read email and use social networks on their phones increase, I have increasingly been recommending a greater emphasis on mobile. This includes a mobile friendly website, emails optimized for mobile viewing, greater attention to social media and the new channel of texting.

In a world where significantly more folks have mobile phones than internet access, it may be time for mobile strategy to deserve more attention from nonprofits. This is especially true if your organization works in Asia or Africa where a majority of folks still are not online.

Should you prioritize mobile over your website? Not yet, because a website is still the transactional hub for most organizations online. But I think that all nonprofits would do well to devote time to thinking through a mobile strategy - having a mobile-friendly website, testing emails for being mobile-friendly and thinking through how they might use text. As the trends mentioned above indicate, your audience might be more likely to find you or engage with you via mobile than through a traditional website - you want to be ready when they do!

Next week Beth Kanter and I are teaching simultaneous master class sessions prior to the Connecting Up conference in Australia, hers on social media and mine on technology planning. I'm very excited that we worked together to find a way to bring the classes together at the end of the day to cross-polinate the learnings from the day and give them some time to reflect.

It is so important to give folks you are teaching time to digest and reflect on the knowledge you are sharing. I know when I began to do a lot of education I felt that I had to spend the majority of the time sharing information - mostly talking with some discussion. What I have learned from Beth and other educators is how important it is to give students time to think about the information you are sharing and how they can apply it.

Exercises where they can apply what they just learned - even in a brief exercise - goes a lot further in helping them digest and really learn the information, which does not happen as well by them just listening and taking notes. By asking folks to share with each other what they have learned and what they plan to do with the information, it not only helps it stick for them, but provides others with reminders of the content and ideas about application.

Whenever you are building an education session, whether online or in person, try not to have just stream of information from you to the students and some discussion. Try to include activities where students can process and act on the information you give them, then time for reflection. I know when I am a student, time to work with the knowledge I'm gaining and reflect on ways to apply it makes the expereince much richer and more valuable.

PICNIC error - "Problem In Chair Not In Computer" is defined on Wikipedia as "slang in technical circles... that implies a lack of computer savvy on the part of a user". While critics of the term argue that the issue actually arises from systems not designed intuitively, there is another issue common in nonprofits that contributes to it as well - lack of technology training.

The latest NTEN Nonprofit Technology Staffing and Investments Report includes data on this issue. Of the many interesting findings in the report, one is that responses "indicate
that nonprofits feel relatively
confident that they have the tools to
do their every-day work, but are less
confident about having enough
skilled staff or training to effectively
use their technology for their work."

Adequate training and support are key to getting more "bang" for your technology "buck". Staff wasting effort trying to create reports that could be done easily if they had the training are just one example I have run across many times in my nonprofit technology career.

This issue also relates to examining work processes. Why do 6 of the 8 staff in an organization need to enter data from a donation in 8 different places? Ususally because the organization has not stopped to look at their business processes. How many times have I heard "We've always done it this way" or "That was how the person before me taught me how to do it". Spending some time making sure you have the best process in place can free up time best spent elsewhere. Applying technology to a bad process usually results in a slightly faster bad process, not the significant increase in efficiency that creating intelligent processes can have.

Nonprofits have limited resources to spend on technology. Two of the best ways to improve your return on investment are:

1. Invest in regular technology training that helps you use the tools in efficient and effective ways

2. Examine business processes and do your best to eliminate inefficiencies

There are lots of resources for good training on nonprofit technology. Once you identify what the needs are, search through the offeriengs of NTEN, TechSoup Global, Idealware and the many other online (and local!) resources to help you make better use of your technology dollar. GIYF (Googling is Your Friend)!

So let's not be quick to blame the person in the chair for the error, when some training could go a long way to reducing those errors. Build those skills and everyone benefits.

Online data privacy is an issue for anyone who puts personal information online. This includes posts to Facebook, email, docs or anything stored in the cloud. Ever since I had the pleasure of doing a presentation about online engagement for the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse I have been more aware of the issues facing nonprofits when it comes to protecting their data online.

I very much like this report from the Electronic Frontier Foundation that rates various companies on how well they do protecting user privacy. If your nonprofit uses on of these services to store data, you should be aware of how much (or how little) that company does to protect your privacy.

I urge nonprofits to protect their data in smart ways. If you have sensitive data or are working on poltical change, it might not be a good idea to store that information online. Always keep a backup of your online data in your hands in case the internet goes down, or in case the service provider goes down or out of business.

For over 20 years I’ve been helping nonprofits improve the ways they use technology. Whenever I began a new consulting project - be it for a communications plan, a website audit or coaching - one of the first questions I always asked was “Do you have a tech plan?” That’s because no matter how an organization engages with technology, a good plan is the touchstone.

Here are five top benefits I have seen organizations reap from technology planning.

1. Effort Coordination

You wouldn’t send your staff out to help people without a plan, so why approach tech – which practically everyone uses in their job – without a plan? Like a lighthouse in a storm, a good plan helps you steer your efforts and helps you avoid the rocks of uncertainty.

2. Saving Resources

Let’s be real, technology can be expensive and confusing. Quick fixes and short-sighted “band-aids” lead to spending much more than is necessary. The bottom line is that, without a plan, you are being inefficient in your use of resources.

3. Increased Effectiveness

By being thoughtful about how they use technology, I have seen organizations increase the number of people they serve by 20% with the same resources. Planning helps identify and reduce inefficiencies. When staff have the right tools for their job, they are more effective in everything they do.

4. Better Decisions

Every technology planning project I’ve been involved in has resulted in improved data management. It often takes the form of reducing the data “noise” that staff and management deal with, focusing on what data is really useful. This in turn improves their ability to make sound decisions based on data.

5. More Funding

A good plan connects your mission with your use of technology. For example, if a funder is interested in increasing the amount and quality of mental health services in your community, you can show how funding your technology project will help achieve that goal. It also provides a basis for showing other funders what your technology costs are for projects they fund.

No matter what their age, experience or comfort level with technology, people from organizations of all sizes and types reap these benefits. They are often surprised when I tell them that they already know 80% of what they need to know to be effective in technology planning, because they know their organization’s culture, history, processes and environment.

I’m thrilled to be bringing my knowledge and experience about technology planning to not-for-profits in Australia through 4 Connecting Up! workshops in March 2012. The workshops will provide the know-how to create a technology plan and an example of a plan to follow. Join us and boost the results you get from your investments in technology. After all, who doesn’t want to be more effective, efficient and better stewards of resources?

My colleague Sarah R Moore reminded our students at our recent session on Storytelling Through Social Media - "Remember when email grew to be essential and many nonprofits wished they had been collecting email addresses all along? This is the same with mobile numbers and texting. Even if you're not texting yet, you want to start collecting mobile numbers now."

Now is the time for all nonprofits to have mobile and texting on their radar. Smart-phone sales have outstripped PC sales and the number of visitors accessing websites from mobile devices is growing every week. The first step is to start including them in communications and technology plans.

There are a variety of interactions people can have with a nonprofit via mobile devices. They can donate, be directed to a web page via QR code, or receive and share information via text.

For donating via text, donations are still limited to $5 or $10, though that is supposed to be changing in the not too distant future. Unless you have the media reach of the recent disasters in Haiti or Japan - or you have access to large numbers of potential donors at a concert or sporting event - this is likely not worth pursuing for most nonprofits. By developing a mobile version of your website that includes the ability to donate you can accept any level of gift, just as you can on your website - but it does require an investment in programming. It is also possible to develop applications (apps) for mobile devices, but there needs to be a clear strategy and reason behind it as this too requires resources to develop.

You've likely seen QR codes in advertisements or other print materials. You can scan the code with your smartphone and it will take you to a website where you can learn more about the person/product/service/etc. The Nonprofit Technology Network has used them on conference badges where the code is linked to attendees profiles. One student at a recent workshop shared that she scanned a QR code on a restaurant menu to get nutritional information and she got sent a coupon for use towards that meal! Unfortunately another student reported being called after scanning a QR code - not a good practice.

Texting is where most nonprofits can start without a large investment. Texting can take several forms, such as occasional text messages to alert folks about events or actions or sharing of information, i.e., texting "BANANA" to a certain code could send back the nutritional information.

Here are some basic DOs and DON'Ts:

1. Include TEXT in Communication Preferences

DO: Have a communication preference field in your database. Your constituents should have a choice to communicate with you via postal mail, email, phone or text. Track that choice and communicate with them via their preferred channel.

DON"T: Collect the information and then ignore it.

2. Start Collecting Mobile Numbers

DO: Ask folks for their mobile number and if they would like to receive texts from you. Always indicate how they can STOP the texts (usually by texting STOP to a specific code).

DON'T: Start texting without asking or without warning

3. Start Texting Intelligently

DO: Start with something small and specific, like an event. You might consider sending a text for Save the Date, one for Registration Open, one for Last Day for Early Bird rate, and maybe one with a link to directions the day before. Or for a protest, maybe one announcing it and one with details.

DO: Ask folks you text how they like what you text, if they would like other information, if they prefer a different frequency of contact, etc. Use that information to craft future texts campaigns. Try again, track, learn, try again. Repeat.

Through your website analytics program, track how many folks are visiting your site via mobile. Dig down to see what pages most of them access, to get a clue about which pages to incude on a mobile site, which is usually much smaller and more text-based than your full website.

You can help the community better understand how to use Google Apps, Google Analytics, Google Adwords/Grants, Google Checkout, Google Earth, Google Maps, and YouTube to advance their work by sharing your stories and experiences with these tools. Nonprofit users’ stories will inform Google on the best topics and examples to incorporate into their trainings for each module.

To participate send your contact information, including email/phone number, web address, and the Google tools your agency uses to npstories@gmail.com. We'll be collecting stories through the end of the year.

I'm working with Compasspoint and Google to build training modules that include case studies and strategies as well as information about the tools. More details on Compasspoint's website: http://www.compasspoint.org/gtools

In 2011 I would like see the nonprofit technology community move toward speaking in some form of more unified voice.

In 2008 I led a discussion through an NTEN Affinity Group to craft a code of conduct that nonprofit technology providers could agree on - see the results below. At the 2011 Nonprofit Technology Conference I will facilitate a discussion about what might be done to find common ground among nptech providers.

Are these principles that nonprofit technology staff, consultants and vendors can all agree on?

It's important for nonprofits to know which websites on the internet have the most traffic. It helps them understand where people are online so they can be sure they are participating on the most popular sites.

I am a fan of Alexa.com®, the web information company that ranks websites with the most traffic by country and by category as well as providing data on audiences. While the data you collect on your stakeholders online behavior, through website, email and other analytics is the most important, the data about activity on the greater web helps steer your online strategy.

As sites decline in popularity (as MySpace® seems to be doing, though it still has a lot of traffic) nonprofits may want to think about putting less effort into those channels. This of course depends on your website traffic statistics - if MySpace® continues to be one of the top 20 referrers of traffic to your site you likely want to maintain your presence there. If not, you may want to reduce the resources you expend on maintaining a presence on that channel. I recommend you check out this ranking once a quarter, just to see what sites are rising/falling in popularity.

For example, Twitter has moved from #9 to #7 in the past month. YouTube is now the #2 search engine on the internet after Google and visitors average almost 20 minutes when they visit. Are you on YouTube? Getting familiar with Twitter? You likely should consider it.

Besides statistics by country, you can look at the statistics by category. Under the heading "Society" there are listings for Activism, Philanthropy, LGBT, Issues and more. Under Philanthropy, the top 6 sites are:

Foursquare is an up & coming social media tool that is just starting to be understood and used by nonprofits. While it's not something you likely need to figure out today, it is a good idea to be familiar with it and have it on your social media radar. At the bottom of this post I list nonprofit specific articles about foursquare.

Foursquare, like other social media tools, comes with its own unique paradigm and language, so requires some explanation up front. Think social networking tool meets location-based game meets travelogue.

With foursquare you sign up for the service and then as you visit places - parks, stores, restaurants, nonprofits, etc. - you "check in" to that place, either directly on the web or through a mobile device. There are different badges you get based on various criteria including number of visits, number of other members signed in and more. If you have the most visits to a certain location, you become the "mayor" of that place and are listed as such on the website. Businesses and organizations can use the service to provide virtual "coupons", i.e., "check-in" to our coffee shop get a free bakery product or become the mayor and get 10% off your purchase.

I like being able to see if friends have visited places so I can ask their opinion about them or have them ask me. The badges and mayorships create a bit of a competition for bragging rights. It also serves as a kind of travelogue as I can go back and see where I checked in when. I have been using it since March and have 16 badges, am mayor of 16 places and have 36 friends I am connected with.

I am more careful who I friend on foursquare and only connect with trusted friends, not acquaintances, as I am revealing where I am (though you have the option not to share your check-in with anyone). Lately I have seen an uptick in the number of friend requests, so thought it was time to write a post about it.

So who is using foursquare, Gowalla, Brightkite and other services of their kind? Nearly 80 percent of location-based social network users are males, and 70 percent are between the ages of 19 and 35. recent research from Forrester found.

The report from Forrester in July said this "Location-based social networks (LBSNs), such as foursquare and Brightkite, offer interactive marketers the promise of right-time, right-place marketing by connecting people and nearby points of sale with geotargeted media. The market is quite nascent, with only a few million consumers using geolocation apps monthly. Marketers need to know what audiences can be reached with these services, which companies — if any — are ready for prime time, and whether LBSNs align with business objectives. Forrester recommends that bold, male-targeted marketers start testing but that most marketers should wait until they can get a bigger bang for their buck, when adoption rates increase and established players emerge from the fray."

Online tools for collaboration are nothing new, but they have matured over the last few years with added features and more real time updating. I think they should be part of every nonprofit organization's toolbox to facilitate communication and collaboration.

EtherPad(Note: the online component of this service was purchased by Google and the servers shut down. Google incorporated some of the features in their "rebuilt more real time" Google Docs launched in spring 2010. See below for alternatives.)

I did a webinar/ commuinty brainstorming session in December '09 with NTEN and the awesome Johanna Bates about low-cost and free IT solutions (Download the PDF - 618KB). At NTEN's recommendation, we included this free tool as part of the webinar and as a way to capture both the tools we knew about and the tools that the attendees shared with us.

It works like Google Docs in that many people can collaborate online to build a document, but has some unique features:

Contributors don't need to register/be invited to join in

There is a chat window seperate from the main doc window, so the two aren't mixed together

There are several options for exporting the document

Coolest feature (I think): A "time slider" that let's you scroll back in time to see exactly how the document was constructed

If you are looking to collaborate with a team of geographically distributed team, you may want to give this tool a try.

Since the servers on etherpad.com were shut down, on Google's page they list some alternative online services based on Etherpad "(not affiliated with Google, use at your own risk)".

Yammer and Present.ly are tools that can provide a great way for people in organizations to keep informed about what people in other departments are doing. They provides opportunities for people to exchange ideas and stay up to date that normally could take hours in a full staff meeting. For a few orgs it is beginning to replace email as a primary mode of internal communication.

They are called micro-blogging tools and they work somewhat like an internal Twitter. People can post updates on what they are doing, resources (documents, presentations, notes, photos, etc.) and others can respond and comment. You can also create groups and there are apps for people to connect to it from their mobile devices. It can be a great way to manage and maintain a record of activity within an organization.

In their article "Making the Silo Break", Changing Out World shared "According to a study cited in the Economist, corporate workers spend between six and ten hours per week hunting for information that they could otherwise communicate to one another seamlessly in the Facebook/Twitter-like sphere of Yammer."

Here are some suggestions (from the NTEN Discussion list) for "an integrated solution so that all of (y)our members (with different email domains) can collaborate on projects, share documents, track progress with project management elements, and communicate and connect with each other in a facebook-like way". Some of these are "enterprise level" tools, meaning you usually need a server, that in general may not be appropriate for small- and medium-sized (under $2 million budget) nonprofits .

Thanks again to Nelson L, David K, Judith S-D, Leyna B, Judy H, Michael S, Gambill C, Joe Baker, Julie B and Joe Horacek-Lee for helping me use my birthday to raise money for a great cause. I raised $635 thanks to them (oddly enough I raised $653 last year for GSA Network, must be something about those numbers!).

I wish Causes would give me more information on exactly who clicked on my birthday wish link when so I could track which of my posts was most effective in driving traffic and donations.

Remember those halcyon days of yore when the phrase
"social networking"
was suffused with golden light? New fundraising campaign? Try Causes!
Need to build community? Let's create a Ning site! No budget for a web
site redesign? Start a Facebook Page instead! Maybe it will work.

Well, playtime's over. If your organization isn't
measuring the results of its social media initiatives, you may be wasting
time and effort. (You just don't know it yet!)

Your nonprofit can use all of the support it can get, so how can you
use social media to engage current stakeholders and attract new
supporters? What strategies are effective at helping promote your
mission - and raising money?

Join me for this teleconference/webinar which will help you navigate the world of social media. The program includes a
review of successful social media tactics, examples from nonprofits,
person-to-person fundraising campaigns with results and lessons learned.
You'll also learn about creating your organizations' plan for social media.

While this teleconference is most appropriate for those with a basic
understanding of social media, novices are welcome too - my students tell me I am adept
at explaining technological concepts in plain English.

This report provides information on how much organizations are spending on IT and what levels of staffing they are using. In my experience, the answer is too often "far too little".

Consider this - one of my 10 Nonprofit Tech "Commandments" is "After people, data is your most important resource". If I came to your office and took away all of your data - donor information, funder information, etc. - you would not be able to function as an organization. If your organization is like most most (except all-volunteer ones) salaries are the largest budget item. But is IT your second largest budget item? Doubtful. If you agree with me that data is only second to people in importance, why is this not reflected in budgeting?

Check out the report and you can begin to reflect in your budgeting what is actually important to the health and well being of your organization.

-

Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report

You have heard the buzz, now get some hard data and useful insights on what is actually happening in social media for nonprofits. Questions like:

What percentage of nonprofits are on Facebook?

How may nonprofits use commercial vs. in-house social networks?

How much staff time is being allotted to maintain a presence on social networks?

What department has primary responsibility for social networking activities?

Join Johanna Bates & I on Tues Dec 1 @ 2pm EST/11am PST for this webinar and community brainstorm session about the many low cost and free IT solutions that nonprofits have available. We'll actually be using a cool new tool during the session - come check it out!

The last week of April I attended and presented at Penguin Day, NTC and Policy Day. Along the way I did some sessions, found out about some interesting projects, tools and websites. Here is a random collection:

Penguin Day

CiviCRM vs. Salesforce for Nonprofits

Thomas Groden and I had a great session that outlined some of the major differences in the systems. It was a very well attended session and attendees had some great questions and shared valuable experiences.

TOR Project: Imagine you are in a country like Turkey where YouTube is banned. How might you get access to it? Or you are in China wanting to access wikipedia and know that Yahoo will hand over your information on demand to the government, possibly resulting in jail time? Or you are a victim of domestic violence who knows your internet activity is being monitored by your abuser? The TOR Project can help.

TOR uses various tactics to help people use the internet anonymously and send encrypted/anaonymous messages, like updates to wikipedia. Using the TOR projects plug-in for Firefox, you can re-route and anonymize your online activity. The TOR browser bundle can be used to circumvent filters (like a school who does not allow students to look at sites with the word "gay" in them).

I am testing out the Firefox client and while there is a speed hit, it has been reliable.

Wikileaks.org - Assists "peoples of all countries who wish to reveal unethical behavior in their governments and institutions".

Red Cross: "We are mentioned in various social media platforms over 400 times a day, so LISTENING is the foundation of what we do in social media"

A well-known internet domain registration service conducted a "conversation analysis" to see how many comments/mentions of their brand on blogs were positive and how many were negative. When they first looked, 85% of comments were negative. They made a concerted effort to counter some of the mis-information that had been spread, engaged more effectively with social media - including dropping the time it took them to respond to blog posts from 48 hours to 4 hours. The result was that negative posts dropped to 18% of all mentions.

My guest speakers, Johanna Bates from Community Partners and Maryann Osmond from Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur did an excellent job sharing stories of their experiences revising their websites based on their audiences, including testing the usability. Thanks to them both.

My Session: Effective Online Communications

Jennie Anderson of Aids.gov and William Neuheisel of DC Central Kitchen shared valuable experience and advice about how they communcate effectively online. Jennie's colleague Michelle Samplin-Salgado did a blog post mentioning the sesssion: Click here to read the post.

Thanks to Jennie and William for adding their valuable real-world experiences.

CBO Policy Day

I did a presentation on using Web 2.0/Social Media tools for Advocacy. A few good examples of advocacy/policy websites:

With mobile phones being more ubiquitous every day, mobile technology is offering nonprofits another medium to connect with supporters and receive donations. I had a chance to take a tour of Mobile Commons recently and got an idea of what the tool offers.

Organizations can customize the codes or words that people text in. This is great for customizing for a campaign, such as "Text "ACTION" to XXXXX to request activist alerts".

The three primary actions nonprofits can offer are:

To register for updates via text or emailA prospect can text a code to a number to register for updates via text and/or text their email address to register for email updates. Organizations can provide or request additional information in subsequent text messages.

To get or provide informationOrganizations can construct conversations via text. For example, once someone is subscribed for updates, they could be offered a choice of update topic, for example, or be asked to provide additional information like zip code.

Mobile users can request information. Organizations can set up codes that send specific information. For example texting "banana" to a number would provide nutritional information or texting your senators name could provide their voting record on a certain issue.

Sending in responses is also possible. People can type in the answer to a question and those responses can then be displayed online so others can see the answers.

To make donationsVia a text message, supporters can donate $5 which is charged to their mobile phone bill. The ability to donate $10 is also soon to be an option.

From my point of view, currently these options seem best suited primarily to organizations with a statewide or nationwide presence and who are able to invest the over $400 per month for the service. For those groups this creates an exciting opportunity to engage with new audiences, including youth and lower income populations who may not have access to a computer, but do have a mobile phone.

To learn more, there are some excellent case studies done by my good friend Michael Stein and others on the MobileActive.org site.

As the award site says "Doug Jacquier has launched a number of
initiatives that are proving invaluable to the Not For Profit (NFP)
sector".

I was fortunate to have worked closely with Doug when I spoke at their annual conference in 2007 and was the presenter for a three-city series of workshops in Australia that Doug managed and produced. These were full-day sessions held in Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane for nonprofits on strategic planning and budgeting for technology. It was a great experience where I saw first hand Doug's excellent partnership and management skills in action.

Welcome to our final week of discussion on the principles. Thanks
everyone for the great input on the NTEN list around the previous principle on pricing!

David Geilhufe brought up a topic in week one of our discussion, saying
that consultants need "to clearly communicate their recommendations.
This is different from communicating directives." Michelle Murrain
agreed, saying "not only that we recommend and not direct, but that we
explain the detailed reasoning behind those recommendations"

Based on this, I propose the following. We:

Provide recommendations and not directives, communicating the reasons behind those recommendations

Does this capture the idea and remain applicable to the intended groups?

If We Charge For Our Services, To Be Transparent About Pricing and Costs

I make it a point to list my pricing for consulting and training services on my website, and I know many others do. When it comes to vendors, I don't like the fact that many vendors - especially of large systems - not only have Byzantine pricing schemes, but they do not list even basic pricing information on their sites. When I was at Groundsping I always appreciated their openness around prices. I am hopeful that by adopting this principle we can ask our vendor friends to move towards more open pricing.

To
me this is a "no-brainer" that is applicable to everyone is our field.
Technology tools and their applications are constantly changing, so
continuous learning is important to providing accurate advice.

Week 7 Principle:Regularly Participate In and Share Our Knowledge With Our Community

While
I think this is important, I think it can seem more of a challenge for
some. It can be difficult enough to get all of your regular work and
learning completed every week, never mind stopping to write up and
share your experiences.

However, I think there are many discrete and
simple ways to share what we know. Posting on our own blog or someone
else's, writing a short response to questions posted on listservs or
sent to us by colleagues. Some ways take a bigger commitment but are
often very rewarding like participating in events like NTC, 501 Tech
Clubs, the upcoming Tech Project Management event by Aspiration &
Idealware, etc. By participating we not only share our knowledge but
at the same time help to highlight the wonderful diversity of
viewpoints, knowledge and skills in our community.

What are ways you engage in continuous learning and participate in the community?

Week 8 Principle:

Maintain Ethical Practices and Declare Any Conflicts of Interest

What this means to me, as I put on the group blog is:

Be open and honest in
work and communication. Deliver what is promised. Disclosure - declare if I am
promoting a tool or service from which I have received or will receive
any type of benefit, monetary or otherwise. For example, I was hired to
write the online documentation for CiviCRM, so whenever I talk about
them I always disclose that relationship.

I
know one of the biggest challenges with technology is fear. I believe
knowledge eases fear and that imparting knowledge is key to easing
fear. In my experience, using clear, non-technical language is
essential for understanding to occur.

--

Week 5 of our discussion. This week's principle is:

- Communicate Applicable Legal And Best Practice Requirements Related to Our Work

For
me the legal part takes the form of sharing with clients applicable
laws about SPAM, registering in states where they solicit donations,
etc. as well as laws related to independent contractors as I am a
consultant.

The Best Practice part takes the form of communicating clear steps that
organizations need to take before, during and after my work with them
to support effective internal processes and maintain their system(s).
This extends to best practices in choosing and implementing tools,
providing support and training and improving internal capacities.

- Focus On Solutions Appropriate to An Organization’s Culture, Context and Resources

This is different from last weeks principle about adjusting approaches to an organization's character as it focuses on solutions.

To me this principle means that we as technology professionals investigate and recommend solutions that are not only based on the tool requirements but on the often less tangible aspects such as culture and context.

For example, while I may want to see an organization leap ahead to a combined CMS+CRM solution. If they are not ready for it culturally I need to step back and think about what is more culturally appropriate for that organization. Perhaps there are interim steps that can move them toward my desired state for them that don't force an inappropriate solution onto them, even if it makes technological sense.

One could argue that this is more applicable to consultants, but I think it has relevance for nonprofit staff and vendors. Otherwise this seems pretty straightforward.Any concerns or issues with this one?

I also encourage everyone to share "What this means to me" for inclusion in the master "What these Mean to Us" document that will accompany the principles.

When commenting please remember:

This
is just a baseline – version 1.0. There will likely be future editions,
so this doesn’t need to be perfect for all time, just a solid start.

The
principles need to be applicable to all nonprofit technology
professionals, including nonprofit staff, consultants, technology
support organizations, vendors, and volunteers.

The principles need to be applicable across areas of focus, US geographic region, specialty, services and tools.

Further details will be articulated by the community in “What These
Mean to Me” documents posted in the library. So these need not
incorporate all the details they imply.

I was fortunate enough to have traveled to Australia last May to speak at CISA's nonprofit technology conference. I also conducted a series of workshops in Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney on technology planning and budgeting for nonprofits, thanks to CISA's Doug Jaquier and support from the Australian Government. (This years conference is May 19-20 in Brisbane).

On April 19 and 20, 2008 the Australian government is holding the Australia 2020 Summit, described on
their website as "an important initiative to harness the best ideas for building a modern Australia
that is ready for the challenges of the 21 st century."

I am pleased and excited that one of the stars in the nonprofit technology world in Australia - Lisa Harvey - has been invited to participate in the summit. Lisa is the founder of Energetica, a Sydney-based, not-for-profit focused consulting firm that offers services in the areas of IT Strategic Consulting, Technical IT Consulting and Managed Services as well as Internet Strategy and Website Development. She and her team are a bright, dedicated group doing all the right things to help nonprofits with technology.

Lisa's participation in the summit is an important opportunity to raise issues about ICT* capacity in the Community Sector. To help her form her views she has
started a blog to facilitate communication.

* In the USA the term I.T. or IT (Information Technology) has generally been used, but the term ICT (Information & Communications Technology) is gaining popularity as it is used by the UN and in much of the rest of the English-speaking world)

--

In the spirit of full disclosure, Lisa was the local partner and a terrific host for the workshops I delivered in Sydney and she did arrange for a wonderful tour of Sydney Harbour (where she took this picture of me having a great time).

Jenny
Council made a great comment on the affinity group blog, saying among
other things: "I have done harm to data ... and I can't pledge I won't
again. I can pledge to never intentionally harm data, or to do my
utmost to care for devices containing data."

That would work for
me, to include "intentionally". I also think about the pledge doctors
take - "First do no harm". Doctors sometimes do harm, but generally it
is not intentional, yet they still pledge not to.

What do you think? Is
"intentionally" implied?

When commenting please remember:

This
is just a baseline – version 1.0. There will likely be future editions,
so this doesn’t need to be perfect for all time, just a solid start.

The
principles need to be applicable to all nonprofit technology
professionals, including nonprofit staff, consultants, technology
support organizations, vendors, and volunteers.

The principles need to be applicable across areas of focus, US geographic region, specialty, services and tools.

Further details will be articulated by the community in “What These
Mean to Me” documents posted in the library. So these need not
incorporate all the details they imply.

Most of this week I spent at NTEN's National Technology Conference (NTC) in New Orleans. I participated in
the Day of Service, providing free consulting to a nonprofit, participated in a panel on nonprofit consulting with my distinguished colleagues Beth Kanter, Robert Weiner and Eric Leland (we missed the original moderator Michael Stein, who was absent due to illness), then presented two session, one on online engagement and the other with Beth Kanter on Web 2.0 options and techniques. As always I learned a lot from my co-presenters and the audiences. This is a great event that I encourage any nonprofit technology professional to consider attending. In 2009 it will be in my neck of the woods, San Francisco.

I really enjoyed New Orleans, seeing and hearing about how the rebuilding and reconstruction efforts are progressing. I toured parts of the city that were hard hit and a lot of work remains. I am not alone in feeling that the government reaction to this disaster was generally a disgrace. A consistent theme I heard from people here is how great the impact has been from all of the volunteers who have come and donated their time, expertise, equipment and skills. It is a tribute to the volunteer spirit that still thrives in the US. So even if I am disheartened by the lack of government action, I am encouraged knowing that ordinary citizens of all backgrounds and beliefs will pitch in and help people in need.

Imagine our community of nonprofit technology professionals having a set of principles to guide our work and let other communities know us better.

Most groups of professionals have principals or codes of conduct
that their members agree to abide by - except nonprofit technology
professionals (NTPs) in the USA. We would like to facilitate our
community generating and agreeing to a set of principles/ code of
conduct. The UK Circuit Riders have already articulated and presented a
set of principles appropriate for them, that many have signed on to follow.
Now we think it's our turn.

We are presenting a draft set of principles as a starting point for
discussion. NTEN has agreed to host the discussion through an online
affinity group. Over the next 90 days, we ask all of you to review our
draft, comment, contribute and discuss (see process schedule below).

At the end of ninety days we will put all of the feedback and
discussion together into a set of principles built by the community. We will then encourage all nonprofit
technology professionals to sign on to the principles and abide by them.

We are looking for basic principles applicable to the broadest range of nonprofit technology professionals - staff, consultants, vendors, professors and others who identify with our community.

Sign up for the discussion forum where you can view the initial draft, comment and discuss.

We look forward to the conversation - including in-person discussion
and input at NTC - and we will contact this list again when the final
draft is ready.

We hope you will join us in taking another step to professionalizing what we love to do.

I learn something new from my students every time I teach, as well as
from Beth Kanter whenever I am fortunate enough to work with her. This
week in the last of my seven-session NTEN Leadership Series, I
co=presented with Beth on “The Next Latest Things: The Future of Tech
in Nonprofits”, mainly focused on Web 2.0® and Social Networking.

I finally learned what Twitter was about as Beth gave a great live
example of how she was able to make a “tweet” – Twitter language for
writing a short update on what you are doing, where you are or what you
are thinking about – about doing the training. She has over 600 people
who listen to her tweets, so within just few minutes people were
sending “replies” about what she wrote.

How can a person listen and talk to hundreds of people in virtually
real time? I was really impressed about the immediacy and using the
technology to tap into the wisdom of the group, but I still have a hard
time wanting to do it myself. I think many like me already feel
overwhelmed just with email and other things we want to read, so
getting involved ins something like this seemed like something for
which I am not quite ready.

My other learning was about digg.com. One of the students in the
session mentioned that he goes in to see sites that people “dig” and
then they post it on the website. As more and more people agree that
they too “dug” the site or a story, its ranking goes up higher. The
student shared that he often reads about news days before he reads it
in the mainstream press and that is one of the things he likes about it.

I'm thrilled to be attending and presenting at England's Circuit Rider Conference 4.0 this year. Mine is one of
three sessions dealing with online engagement. My presentation focuses on telling stories digitally using the internet and Web 2.0 tools. The others are on helping npo's understand and plan for use of Web 2.0 tools and Online Community Building and Engagement. There are also speedgeek sessions - short updates, often product- or product category-specific - on web-based tools, healthy computing, basic open source software options and Ubuntu.